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Sonic Youth U-Turn On Leaving Geffen
The Quietus , August 26th, 2008 11:57

Sonic Youth - free agents

Thurston Moore has confirmed that Sonic Youth's next studio release will appear on an independent label after years of being "compromised" on Geffen records. This is against what Moore and Kim Gordon told a Quietus journalist just two years ago.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Moore revealed that Sonic Youth's future plans are almost set in stone, though he was unable to confirm to which label the band would be signing: "There's one label we are certainly going to go with at this point," he said. "But I don't think I’m allowed to disclose that right now. I don’t want to risk having a shit storm."

He added that it "feels great" to be back in the independent realm as "The last four or five records we did were just so compromised by that [major label] situation. But that’s the way it goes." So everything since Washing Machine has been arse, has it?

When a member of The Quietus staff interviewed Sonic Youth back in 2006, they were full of beans about working with Geffen. Asked if coming to the end of their contract with Geffen was a "liberating" feeling, Thurston Moore replied "It’s not liberating."

"It’s true that we’re coming to the end of our contract and it’s true that we’ve done a record that I bet they wish we’d done at the beginning of the contract!" added Kim Gordon. "Actually Geffen is a good place to be at the moment. They get people working. It’s actually nice to know that we’ve got the choice."

To which our scribe asked if that meant that Sonic Youth weren’t necessarily going to or had to leave the major. Said Kim Gordon: "We’re not really contemplating leaving Geffen."